


Post-Aftergame

by SyntheticSaturn



Category: Super Paper Mario (Game)
Genre: Angst, Multi, One-Sided Attraction, Sort Of, Speech Disorders, Swearing, dimentio dies, he comes back as some sort of skellobit zombie jackass, i swear this all makes sense when you read it, mario doesn't speak full sentences
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24094174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SyntheticSaturn/pseuds/SyntheticSaturn
Summary: Dimentio's afterlife appears to be more destructive than anyone had hoped; crumbling buildings, lost lives, and straining relationships. Who would've guessed he would be able to cause such chaos even after death?
Relationships: Count Bleck | Blumiere/Lady Timpani | Tippi, Count Bleck/Nastasia
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	1. Nastasia's Misery

**Author's Note:**

> writing chunks's dialogue was amazingly difficult with how much i was laughing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nastasia has a much harder time coping with her lost love than anticipated. Fortunately, she finds support in her beloved friends.

Everything had settled down after the whole Dimentio incident, about three weeks afterwards. Nastasia had been sitting in front of the cyan heart pillar in Flopside, fantasizing about what would've happened if Count Blumiere didn't run off with Timpani. It was a little difficult to do so, with thoughts of how worthless she was compared to Timpani clouding her mind. O'Chunks noticed how she had been acting lately, but didn't fully understand what was going on with her. Nastasia wished he'd just drop it and leave her to handle it herself, but even she knew she couldn't do that.

A familiar Scottish voice snapped her out of her trance. "'EY! NASSY!" O'Chunks yelled. _Oh, dear..._ "I FINALLY FOUND YEH!"

"O-O'Chunks, hey... How are you?" Nastasia replied, still recovering from daydreaming.

"I saw you was feelin' sad, so I thought I would, yuh'know, take yeh to Saffron's-"

"No!- I mean, no, thanks... I'm fine."

"Y'sure?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"...Well, ah'right." O'Chunks hesitated to leave, suspecting that she was lying, but decided to leave her be.

Nastasia sighed in relief once he went back down the elevator, not wanting to bother her friends with any of her problems. She was more used to dealing with others' problems instead, while working for the Count. Which brought her back to her daydreaming...

Meanwhile, Mario and the three heroes returned to Flipside's tower. Peach and Luigi just wanted to check in on everyone in Flipside, but Mario wanted to stay there for a while. Bowser wanted an excuse to be anywhere near Peach.

After getting a welcome-back from Merlon, the four heroes went to talk with everyone else they'd missed. They came across O'Chunks near the red heart pillar.

"Oh, why hello there! Didn't expect to see you in Flipside. Though, I guess I don't really know where we _would_ expect to see you," Peach said.

"Nice seein' ya too, lass. And the rest a' yeh," O'Chunks replied.

"Is everything alright?"

"Eh?"

"You look worried..."

"Ehh... Y'see, Nastasia's been actin' strange, an' I wanted to make 'er feel better. It din't work, an' now I can't fin' Mimi anywhere, an' I was gonna ask 'er for help."

"Well... She might be in Merlee's Mansion, through the orange door on the tower," Luigi guessed.

"Awright, I'll look there."

"Na-Nastasia? Are you okay?"

Nastasia had been spacing out so much that she hadn't noticed Mimi approaching her at the heart pillar. "Oh- Yeah, I'm okay. Did O'Chunks say something to you?"

"Yeah... I figured you'd tell me instead of O'Chunks anyways. You know how he is... Anyways, what's been goin' on?" Mimi asked, sitting on her knees and being careful not to get dirt on her dress.

"Um..." Nastasia distracted herself by tugging at a small flower growing from between the stone path. "It's, uh... It's about Count Blumiere."

"Silly Nassy, we're sad about that too, but at least we're getting over it." She playfully punched Nastasia's shoulder.

"No, Mimi... You don't... I..."

"Alright, enough with the excuses. We're gonna make you happy, no matter how m-"

"Mimi, enough! That's not all I'm upset about!"

"What...?"

"I..." She dropped her voice as if she were afraid Blumiere himself could hear her. "I loved him. I know he loves Timpani, and they're both happy together... and I could never be as great as her... God, how pathetic of me."

"No, wait! That's not true! It's... It's just that he fell in love with Timpani first. He didn't wanna just give up on her! I'm sure he would've loved you, if..." Mimi trailed off, realizing her words weren't helping the situation. Nastasia sobbed quietly, burying her face in her knees.

"He never loved me. He never would have, no matter what. Mimi, I'm so sorry for bringing you into this," said Nastasia shakily.

"It's not your fault, I was the one who asked you what was wrong in the first place. Please don't cry..." Mimi had no idea what to say. "...What would Blumiere want you to do?"

Nastasia managed to calm herself down enough to speak again. "U-um... He'd want me to be happy. He always tried to keep us happy. H-he cared about all of us..."

"There! There you go! Now, remember that when you're feeling like this again, okay? You think that'll help?"

"...Yeah. I think it'll help a little. Thank you, Mimi."

"Alright, I'll be in Merlee's Mansion if you ever need me. Will you be okay while I'm gone?"

"Yeah. See you later..."

Mimi dashed back to Flipside, waving. After she was gone, Nastasia turned toward the Pure Heart in its pillar. She started to remember what it was like living in Castle Bleck.

• • •

"Excuse me, Nastasia, may I come in?" Count Bleck said from the other side of Nastasia's bedroom door. She had slept in by accident, so she was concerned, to say the least, when she awoke to her boss's voice.

"Oh! Uh, yeah, you can come in." Bleck entered the room as Nastasia hurriedly got out of bed. "I'm so sorry, Count! I had to deal with a troublesome Koopa who refused to be hypnotized very late at night, and-"

"Don't worry about it, I understand." Bleck had a sympathetic smile. "...Nastasia."

"Wha...?" She was taken aback by his sudden change of expression. He looked around the room with a disappointed look.

"Your room is a disaster! No wonder you're always so stressed." He always acted like his minions' dad: almost smotheringly caring.

"Count, seriousl-"

"No, no, I'm cleaning it up for you, hush."

"But don't we have work to do today?"

"The happiness of my minions is far more important. Especially considering how you-" He stopped what he was doing and strode over to Nastasia- "have been lately. You seem so tired..."

"No, really, I'm fine-"

Since Count Bleck was so tall, he had to crouch to be eye-level with her. "Are you completely sure? I worry a lot, you know. I just want to be certain that you're okay."

Nastasia felt her face start to heat up. She and the Count weren't very far apart.

"I- I promise, everything is okay."

Bleck smiled sweetly, and pulled Nastasia into a warm embrace. She was surprised at first, but accepted it soon after. Hell, she'd stay like this forever if she could. His shadowy-blue skin felt soft against her face. She could almost feel the affection radiating from him. He really _does_ care about his minions...

He eventually let go, heading towards the door. "Alright, I'll leave you alone if you need more sleep," he said, turning his head to Nastasia.

"Wait- but-"

"You've earned a day off. 'Rest,' said Count Bleck." He quickly left, closing the door behind him, before she could argue any further. 

_That 3rd-person-speaking little shit._

Nastasia was finally at peace with herself. Or, at least, enough to learn to smile again.

Count Blumiere cared about her, and that was all that mattered.

Even if his heart did belong to someone else...


	2. Under-Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wonderful twin towns of Flipside and Flopside, however short their peace may have been, may soon come to an abrupt end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be supplementing this story with bits of art of the characters! more art will be added to older chapters in the future if I happen to draw something fitting. here's my deviantart for more stuff if you're interested: https://www.deviantart.com/zoeb728
> 
> thanks for reading so far, lads

Mario and his friends strolled around Flipside and Flopside, making sure everyone was still intact. Sure enough, they were, and they were also extremely grateful that the worlds had been saved.

"What's with the freaky light coming outta that door?"

The heroes were passing by the Flipside tower when Bowser saw something was up with the purple door, leading into the Underwhere. "Oh- we're not gonna go up there, are we?" Luigi asked, already knowing the answer.

Mario dashed into the elevator without a word, calling to his friends to hurry after entering.

Once at the top of the tower, the four had a clearer view of the light. It wasn't really light, per se, but more like the darkness that emitted from the Chaos Heart.

"Keep your guard up, guys. We don't know what kind of... thing... we'll be dealing with," Peach said with a firm expression.

One by one, starting with Mario running through, they went into the door to the Underwhere. Luigi was last, hesitant to find out what was causing the strange dark force. He coaxed himself in after a few moments.

After everyone had appeared in the dark dimension, the first thing they noticed was the lack of Shaydes. The forest was even eerier than it had been. Some of the trees were destroyed, the fountain had crumbled...

"YOU."

A voice yelled out to them. A Shayde approached them slowly.

"You ruined my plans. You did this to me..."

As the figure drew closer, Mario suddenly recognized who this was.

"Dimentio," Mario murmured.

"That's right! The master of dimensions! In the flesh! Well, a little less flesh now..."

Luigi stepped up. "Don't get any ideas, Dimentio! We could take you any day, just like we did before!"

"...You're right. But, remember, it was you who fought your friends alongside me! I was in control of you, and you couldn't do anything about it! No wonder everyone likes your brother more than you. You're _weak_." Dimentio's eyes pierced Luigi.

Luigi's newfound confidence left his eyes, reducing him to backing away behind the others and looking down at his feet.

"Maintain eye contact when someone talks to you, green." Dimentio stared him down. Luigi slowly raised his head in terror. He knew what Dimentio was capable of, and he knew what was coming to him.

Dimentio snapped his fingers, causing Mario, Peach, and Bowser to vanish. He stepped closer to the panicked man in green. Luigi's heart sunk. He was frozen where he stood. Dimentio raised one hand to summon a magic orb, using his other to hold onto Luigi's shirt to keep him still.

"Good, at least you're smart enough to not fight back." He snapped once again to launch the magic.

_Crash._

He was knocked to the ground.

Dazed, he came to the realization that Luigi had punched him. He blinked, holding himself up with his hands on the cold ground.

"You're only delaying your own game-over, you know," Dimentio taunted as he stood up. "Just sit still, it'll all be over soon, my dear plumber!" He approached Luigi, but he super-jumped onto Dimentio, knocking him down once again. This time, Luigi held him down with his foot.

"Now, listen real close. I may be 'weak' to you, but right now, I can and will kill you right now if you don't bring my friends back," Luigi muttered. "Got it?"

"I'm already dead! How could you kill me again?"

"You'll... cease to exist."

Dimentio appeared to be interested in that statement. "I don't believe that you'll actually do it. I dare you. Do it. Right now."

"H-huh-what?"

"You've always been a coward! You could never actually do it! Prove that you aren't, and kill me right now!"

"But... why would you want to stop existing?" Luigi loosened his hold on Dimentio.

"I don't! I just know you aren't a threat, because there's no way you have the heart to do that to someone!" Dimentio cackled.

"Bring my friends back, or I might actually do it."

"Fine, fine! I've had my fun with you. Spending an eternity and a half with you sounds unpleasant, now that I think about it." With another snap, the three others were warped back to Luigi's location. Luigi moved away from Dimentio.

"Luigi?!" Mario and Peach exclaimed.

Dimentio shot up to his feet. "So, are you gonna end my game for good, or what, green boy?"

Peach was surprised, to say the least. "Wha...? Pardon my language, but what the hell?!"

"...It's one thing to kill someone. It's a horrible thing to cause someone to no longer exist." Luigi turned away. "Dimentio, I'm not doing it. No matter what terrible things you did."

"Um, I don't mean to sound terrible when I say this, but... Luigi, he's nearly caused all worlds to die! What else should we do with him?"

Luigi stayed facing away, looking down. He clenched his fists in frustration.

"She's right. But you could never do it, could you? You call yourself a hero, but you can't even bring yourself to killing your own enemy. Absolutely patheti-"

In a fit of rage and realization in what he had to do, he swung his fist into Dimentio's jaw, causing him to lose consciousness.

Everyone went silent, except for Bowser. "Jesus Christ, Luigi!"

"I'm taking him to Jaydes. We have to do something about him, even if I won't."

Still silent, the three watched as Luigi led the way to Jaydes, dragging Dimentio by his shirt collar.

"You coming, or what?" He stopped and turned his head towards the others slightly. Mario was worried about his brother... Why was he acting like this?

They made it to Queen Jaydes, Luigi still leading the way. "Oh, welcome back, heroes!" Jaydes said. She realized Luigi was dragging... someone? "I... What's that?"

"Um... This world was almost destroyed, right?" Luigi asked.

"What about it?"

"This-" Luigi pulled up Dimentio so she could see him more clearly- "is who caused that."

Jaydes felt a zap in the back of her head. "Then why was he sent here?! He should be rotting in that frozen prison under River Twygz! Except... if that place couldn't even hold Bonechill, I can't imagine it'll hold this one much better."

"So... So what are you saying?"

"I'll end his existence. Simple as that-"

"WAIT!"

"What? Don't you want this horrible gremlin gone?"

"Luigi, remember what we told you. We can't exactly keep him alive. You saw what he did to those Shaydes," Peach reminded him.

"But... But can't we just... I-"

Mario approached his taller brother and set his hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. He simply muttered "no."

"No, I don't care what he did. All life, even his, is important. I- What if we- Can't we just try talking to him?" Even Luigi knew he was just making up excuses.

"I'm sorry, but we have to do this." Jaydes said solemnly. She had no regrets personally, but Luigi's almost dangerous amount of empathy gave her a pang of guilt.

Luigi hesitated, then dropped Dimentio to the ground. He walked over to where Bowser and Peach stood and faced away from Jaydes.

Dimentio began to stir. He coughed as he held himself up with his hands. "What...? I'm still here? See, Luigi? You know you aren't strong enough to kill me!"

Luigi stayed still, arms stiff.

"And who might this be?" Floating to his feet, he directed his attention to the dark creature in front of him.

"I'm Queen Jaydes, ruler of the Underwhere. And you, Dimentio, are sentenced to an afterlife in Hell." The heroes all gasped quietly at the realization that he wouldn't be completely erased.

"Oh... Oh." His voice dropped to almost a whisper. He started to consider the pros and cons of staying in The Underwhere despite how painfully boring it was.

"A-aha ha ha ha! Was I really that horrible in life? I promise you, I can be as innocent as a butterfly unknowingly about to be consumed by a bird-"

"Listen, kid, it's either that or I'll literally delete you. Choose wisely."

"So... This is really happening, then." He stood up, shaking. "Well, I guess I'd rather be in Hell then. Luigi here won't feel as bad about me being gone!"

Luigi turned his head towards Dimentio with a disgusted expression.

"You're really that desperate, huh?" Jaydes muttered. "I guess I could do that. Enjoy your eternity, jester."

With that, Queen Jaydes produced a thunderbolt from the sky, sent crashing down upon Dimentio. He shuddered as he was struck. His eyes were drained of all emotion. With a thud, his lifeless body fell to his knees and onto his side, and dissolved.

Dimentio was finally gone.

Luigi flinched at the sound of the lightning strike. He couldn't help but feel guilty about Dimentio's more permanent death, even though he knew fully well that he couldn't have done anything to stop it.

"...Let's go back to Flipside," Luigi exhaled.

Arriving at the Flipside tower via Return Pipe, Mario left to tell Merlon what had happened. Peach tried her best to cheer up Luigi by hugging him, but to no avail. Bowser stood by awkwardly ("Boy, that Dimentio is one edgy bitch," followed by Peach telling him to watch his mouth).

Meanwhile, Merlon suggested that they stay in Flipside for a little while until everything was settled down. If something did happen while they were still in their own world, who knows what would happen...

"Alright, off you go then. You may need to talk to your brother, after what he had gone through," Merlon said as he sent Mario out the door. He nodded his head in agreement absentmindedly as the other three came out of the elevator. He immediately pulled his younger brother to the side to talk to him. Well, "talk," as in Luigi interprets Mario miming something out while spouting various words.

"I'm fine, Bro. I get that Dimentio was awful, and he might've deserved that. I'm fine," Luigi replied sharply.

Mario shoots him a glare, which his brother reads as "I can tell you're lying."

Luigi let out an exhausted sigh. "Okay, but... some of the things he said were true."

"Hm?"

"I mean when he said I was weak, and just let him use me as his puppet to fight you."

"N-no no!" Mario was acting out a pitiable charade of comforting. He had no effect on his brother's emotions.

"No. No, no, no. It was terrible to fight you. I could see everything. I felt everything, physically and mentally." Luigi had his back against the tower in order to stay standing. "I could've stopped everything if I didn't try to be a hero at the wedding. _I_ started all this! I could've killed us all because I was an idiot! This is why you're always the one out adventuring instead of me!"

Luigi was sitting now, on the brink of crying. Mario had no idea what to do, let alone what was going on inside his brother's head. This directed the attention of Peach, Bowser, and Merlon, who had been talking amongst themselves.

"Luigi!" Peach ran over to him. "Luigi, sweetie, please calm down! None of this was your fault, Dimentio did this to you, okay? He's gone now, so you're safe. You did nothing wrong."

As Peach began talking, Luigi managed to silence himself and come to his senses. He realized the others had been staring. He began trying to explain himself, but Bowser, surprisingly, interrupted.

"Alright, look, we saw what that little- uh, I mean, Dimentio, did to you. I don't blame you, honestly."

"Oh... R-really? I really didn't expect that from you."

"See, Bowser? You can be sweet sometimes!" Peach reminded him of when he first agreed to help Mario in the Bitlands.

"NO, I am NOT sweet. I'm just being a decent person for once."

That night, the sleepy heroes stayed at the inn. Luigi was unable to sleep the whole night due to nightmares.

He couldn't get Dimentio out of his head.


	3. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blumiere and Timpani, the self-proclaimed soulmates, adjust to their new life together.

_Blumiere watched as all worlds, all universes... all beings... ceased to exist. All because of one purple jester who he thought he could trust. Everything he cherished, everything he wanted to be able to protect when he no longer followed the prophecy... gone._

_The last thing he saw was Timpani, calling for him with tears in her eyes, being drained of all life as he stood helplessly. That cruel being was torturing him by making him watch as this unfolded, only to slowly end his own game once it was finished. Though, the torturing was much worse as all he could hear were the terrified screams of his wife..._

Blumiere was suddenly jolted awake with Timpani safe in his arms. It was the first night of being reunited with her, so his fears were still lingering in his mind. Just a nightmare, he thought. He protectively brought Timpani closer to him and she shifted slightly. Blumiere worried that he had woken her up, but she stayed asleep. He ran his hand through her hair and lightly kissed her forehead. That, unfortunately for him, awoke her.

"Morning, sweetie," Timpani whispered sleepily.

"Good morning. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Blumiere smiled.

"No, no, it's okay. I get to see you, so it's fine," she said with a laugh.

The weather was pleasant that day, though it was a bit cloudy. The wind was gentle and inviting for a day outdoors. Blumiere and Timpani had been out for a walk when it started to drizzle, unfortunately for them. The two sprinted back to the house before it got any worse, Timpani laughing at Blumiere's disgruntled expression.

Once back inside, Timpani leaned against the window, watching the rain drip down. They could hear it battering the roof, which annoyed Blumiere, who sat over on the couch in a petty attempt to shun the rain.

"Blecch. It's so loud," he complained.

"Well, I find it quite relaxing," Timpani said.

"How can you find any of this _relaxing_? Are you used to sleeping next to a Blastboxer?"

"Oh, quit exaggerating, Blumi."

Although the rain-darkened clouds had blocked part of the sunlight, it was still fairly bright outside. The light, both shining through the window and reflecting off of the glittery rain on it, complimented Timpani's angelic shape. She stayed focused on the rain during their conversation, leaving Blumiere able to admire her.

"Y'know, raindrops are kinda like people," Timpani said after a few minutes of silence.

"Hm?" Blumiere was snapped out of his daydreaming.

"They start out trying to get to the end, in this case the bottom of the window, and they end up joining with other raindrops in the process. Those other drops could represent friends, family... significant others..."

That was one of the reasons why Blumiere loved her. She was so insightful and optimistic, finding creative, almost poetic, ways of looking at things. It only adds to his love of the universe. He really could not live without her, seeing as what happened days before this one...

He rose from his seat and went over to Timpani. He gently hugged her from behind as if he were afraid she would disappear. Since he had thought she was killed so long ago, he was having a hard time realizing that they could finally be happy together, that they were finally happy together. Resting his head on her shoulder, Blumiere lightly kissed her neck.

"Uhm... Blumiere...?"

It had been just over two weeks since they reunited. Blumiere was awoken by Timpani's voice, expecting to see her in his arms, in their bed. He sat up, facing the bright light and shielding his eyes. There she was, standing in the doorway, wearing nothing but her undergarments.

"Um... I think I'm pregnant."

"A-are you sure? How can you tell?"

"Let's see... I feel sick to my stomach every morning, crazy mood swings, and have you noticed how much I've been eating?"

Blumiere's mind was instantly racing. How would he be able to take care of a child? He was terrible with kids... What if she doesn't want the baby? What if something goes wrong? What will they look like? What gender are they? What will their first words be?

His worrisome thoughts slowly turned to more hopeful ones. His expression shifted from one of great concern and guilt, to a softer and happier one. Timpani still seemed very alarmed.

"Are you... Are you okay with this?" Blumiere stood up. "I can understand why you would be worried-"

"Of course I'm worried, have you met me?" Timpani snapped. "But... I think this'll be okay. We should probably wait a little while before we tell everyone in Flipside, though."

"Oh, of course. For now, let's just make sure you and the baby are alright." He went over to Timpani and held her in a warm embrace.


	4. Scourge of the Harlequin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An impromptu rescue mission of the Pure Hearts has begun once again.

The next morning, Mario awoke to see that Luigi was already awake. The light filtering from the back door brightened the room just enough to see an outline of his body sitting on the bed. Seeing as Luigi was wearing his hat, Mario guessed he hadn't been able to sleep much and decided to get out of bed for the day. He normally doesn't sleep very much, considering how many Boos live in his mansion. But this time, Mario knew exactly what was wrong with his brother.

"Uh... Hi," Mario said.

"Oh- you're awake." Luigi was trembling slightly. His eyes were a bit bloodshot as well. "Listen, I'm not too sure about Dimentio, y'know? I feel like- I- I think we should hide the Pure Hearts, just in case, huh? You- you think so too? I was just... Y'know, just in case..." As he spoke, Luigi gradually spoke quieter and turned his head towards the wall next to him; he never was the most confident of people.

Now that Mario thought about it, that's a great idea. They don't know what happened to Dimentio; he may be gone for good, but he could potentially be on the loose. He shook his head with worried enthusiasm, now fearing for the towns' safety.

"Awake already, you two? Would you like any breakfast?" Tinga, the inn's owner, entered the room with various mushroom dishes in her arms.

"...No, thanks. I have somewhere to be," Luigi said as he hastily made his way to Merlon's house.

Upon being told by Luigi to keep the Pure Hearts hidden, Merlon solemnly looked down at the floor. "I was just hoping this wouldn't happen so soon," he replied, almost at a whisper.

"I- I just thought we should do it for safety, I'm sorry-"

"No, no, it isn't your fault. Luigi, you and the others each go get a Heart, or more if you're able to. I'll let O'Chunks and Nastasia know what's going on so they can take one as well. Hurry, now, we may not have much time."

With that, Luigi darted off to the inn. Mario jumped as the door swung open. "Eh-?" Peach and Bowser were awake as well, though Peach was a little less so. "Is everything alright?" She asked, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes.

"Bro, I need you, the princess, and Bowser to each take a Pure Heart from a pillar." Luigi's voice shook as he tried to keep his composure. "The red and cyan ones are fine, you guys each go get a different one."

With a nod from each party—and a yawn from Peach—they each sprinted to different heart pillars around Flipside. Luigi rushed down the blue shortcut pipe into Flopside, where the purple pillar resides.

"C'mon, almost... Almost there... Just a bit-" Luigi was stopped in his tracks by a bright flash of light, sending him stumbling backward. A blue skeletal creature was floating in midair, facing him with piercing glowing eyes. Time itself seemed to freeze around him. Though the flash had been intense, his vision began to darken.

"No, nonono, wait! The Pure Heart!" Luigi scrambled to his feet and tried to run to the pillar before his legs gave out below him. But it was too late, as Dimentio had already taken it and emitted another blinding flash.

Upon waking, Luigi felt like something was off about his surroundings before he even fully opened his eyes. It felt like Mario had used his flip ability, but—

Luigi swung his head to see if Mario was nearby—he was nowhere to be found. He was still in the outskirts of Flopside where the purple heart pillar was hidden.

Everything was 3-dimensional.

He couldn't believe his eyes. Did he have Mario's flip ability now...? Even if he did, he didn't know how to switch back to 2-D. Or is _everything_ like this? Is everyone else stuck too? He dashed back to Flopside's 2nd floor, where the base of the tower was. Maybe he could find Mario and find out what was happening—?

The tower, the buildings, even the ground were blacker than soot. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the same odd marble-like material that Castle Bleck was made of. The shortcut pipes were destroyed, but with this world now having an additional dimension, he was able to walk past the buildings straight into what resembled Flipside. Just like Merlon had said, the towns were two sides of the same coin, but now it was quite literal—the two places that were located between dimensions were now connected right at the seams.

"M-MARIO?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Luigi was confused and terrified and all he wanted was to know where his older brother was.

"Luigi?!" Mario yelled back. He sounded about as dazed as Luigi was.

"Ehh, I assume you noticed what's wrong here? Was it your power, or- wait, wait, you guys got the Pure Hearts, right? Uhh... Dimentio took the purple one before I could make it."

Mario shook his head, to Luigi's dismay.

"HEY! IDIOTS! The princess is knocked out again, come help me wake her up!" Bowser had Peach in one arm and, unfortunately, no Pure Heart in the other. They could only hope O'Chunks and Nastasia saved theirs...

Shortly after being set on the ground by Bowser, she began to regain consciousness. She appeared to have various cuts, scratches, and cold, red marks all over her. Very cold, very strange. What could've done this to her? Dimentio's magic attacks weren't very icy, but they did deal some serious cuts, like the ones Peach has.

"Princess, you're freezing cold! What happened?" Luigi asked as he and Mario helped her back onto her feet.

"Nnngh... Stupid clown... The... The Pure Heart... That stupid clown boy, he... Ow-oww, Mario-"

Mario had accidentally touched one of her cuts on her arm while trying to hold her up.

"Dimentio got away with a Heart... I tried to fight him back, but he- he obviously won. That jerk."

"S-so what you guys are saying is, none of us have any Pure Hearts?"

"Wait, none of you guys got one either?! Where's O'Chunks? Maybe he managed to- Oh, dear. Whaaaat happened to Flipside...?"

"No time to explain, I'm gonna go find those two." Exasperated, Luigi sprinted off without another word, leaving Mario and Bowser to patch up Peach's injuries alone.

O'Chunks was nowhere to be found, so Nastasia was potentially their only hope. Luigi, hyperventilating in the elevator, couldn't help but feel guilty about all of this happening. He did nothing to cause it, but he just kept thinking of the day he and Mario were rushed to Bowser's castle only to be attacked by Count Bleck. _"Man, I wish something exciting would happen, y'know?" Good going, stupid! This sure is exciting, huh!? I couldn't have just kept my big mouth shut, now, could I?_ As the elevator door abruptly opened, Luigi rushed to where Nastasia previously resided with the heart pillar. The pillar was missing, but Nastasia was safe and sound with her arms tightly wrapped around the cyan heart.

"Oh, thank the Stars the heart is safe! Err, and you too, of course," Luigi said.

"Yeah, 'K, thanks." Nastasia staggered to her feet. She seemed a bit dazed. "Did you guys get any hearts, too? Dimentio wouldn't even get close to me with this, so he got away before I could try to hypnotize him."

"As far as we know, Dimentio has the other ones. I can't find O'Chunks anywhere."

"We should've called Mimi over here for help, maybe she could've- O-oh, my god. If Dimentio has the orange heart, then the door to Gloam Valley must be gone too. I think Mimi's trapped there! We were only able to teleport through dimensions with Blum- Count Bleck's help!"

"W-well, let's go find out where the other Pure Heart is, and hopefully she'll be okay for a little while."

"Blecch... What just-? Timpani! Are you alright?" Timpani had just collapsed on the ground before the world had shifted into 3-D. All she said was that "something's not right" before fainting.

"I'm fine, are you? Oh... Oh, everything looks just like when I was stuck between dimensions in Flipside! What in the worlds?!" Timpani frantically regained her footing while her eyes darted in every direction.

"What did you mean when you said something was wrong?"

"I... I just felt like something bad was going to happen, I don't know... Things like that always happened when I was traveling with Mario. It must be something with the Pure Hearts."

Blumiere only hesitated for a second before drawing his staff and warping them both into Flipside. They were atop the tower, now blotted out with darkness and no colorful doors to be seen. Below the tower, on either side, was what remained of the towns of Flipside and Flopside. Timpani, upon seeing her temporary home turned into a shell of its former self, choked back her tears and dragged Blumiere into the tower's elevator. She wanted to make sure the townsfolk were safe... And Merlon...

Most of them were still out cold, but she gasped when a familiar red cap and blue overalls caught her eye.

"Mario- oh, dear. Peach, what happened here? What happened to you?" 

"Listen—long story short, Dimentio is an asshole, and we're fresh out of Pure Hearts. Now, let's hope Luigi comes back with a Heart and we can get moving already," Bowser barked, clearly displeased with the number of times we've had to explain this to everybody now.

Sure enough, Nastasia held a pulsating blue light in her arms as she and Luigi returned to the others.


	5. The Fifth Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mario Bros. and their companion set off to put an end to Dimentio's mysterious actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate any feedback, especially regarding the pacing. I hope it's not going too slowly! ^^

"Oh dear Star Spirits, Blumiere is here." Nastasia's feet froze to the ground and she was unable to direct her focus to anything other than him. She wanted something, _anything_ to blankly rest her eyes on other than the Shadow she so viciously devoted her life to.

That day—almost two years ago now—was the day she both fondly reminisced about during her days in Flopside to distract herself from her spiteful introspection, and the day that led to her eventual spiraling crash. In her search for a resting perch for the night after traveling through the day in her bat form, she stumbled upon something, perhaps belonging to someone who lived nearby, stuck in a tree, though it was obscured by the evening darkness. She only realized its true intentions when a loud _SNAP_ seized her wing, breaking her fingers.

It had been hours before she gave up trying to get anyone's attention to help, as it had grown eye-strainingly dark. The metal door prevented her from turning back to her humanoid Shadow form, leaving no method of escape. At long last, however, she managed to make out a silhouette not too far away with her sonar, which prompted her thrashing and squeaking once more. The kind, troubled soul couldn't bear to see the pitiful flying rodent in such a struggle, so he climbed up the tree to release her wing from the small metal trap.

Nastasia had taken a liking to this benevolent Shadow since that miracle. So much so, that she went so far as to appear at his doorstep in her own Shadow form, revealing that she was of his own tribe. She knew all about what he had done with the Dark Prognosticus and had no qualms about assisting him, only questioning her devotion when his mental state began to deteriorate. And that was the mistake she so terribly wanted to reverse...

"Oh, Nastasia! My loyal assistant!" Blumiere nearly shouted in excitement as he whisked his floating body over to one of his closest friends. "Er, ex-assistant, rather," he said, backing away from his attempt at a hug before remembering the incredibly tense atmosphere—which he was partially a cause of.

Shifting her focus (away from a very specific crack in the ground) to the space of ground dividing her from Blumiere, Nastasia unintentionally let out the words spinning in her head: "I thought you were dead."

Blumiere felt his heart constrict. _I hadn't even said a word after I left,_ he realized. _Not even a goodbye._

"I couldn't bear to see your teary face before we went home, or I wouldn't have been able to leave. We never expected to return here at all, let alone so soon." He was eye-level with Nastasia, something that always managed to intimidate her more than his normal, towering height. She took a defensive stance in response.

Her voice was nearly a whisper. "...Why wouldn't you have come back?"

"Hm?"

"No-nothing," she said a bit too loud, bringing the Pure Heart over to Mario for safe keeping. "K, so, what brings you two here, Lady Timpani? You're okay I hope?"

"We came as soon as I felt what seemed to be a Pure Heart's aura. I always feel a bit faint when a Pure Heart to be rescued is nearby... I'll admit it's nice to be visiting this place again, like visiting an old home," Timpani explained. She was then aware of the townsfolk cautiously stepping into the opposite town from theirs, previously unaware of its existence. Others, who frequented both towns, were more interested in their newfound third dimension.

Mario, now holding the Heart, was gesturing to it to get Luigi's attention. "Ah. What should we do about _this_?" Luigi then said.

"Well _duh_. Shove it back in the pillar and go through the door," Bowser said. "It takes us to the other Hearts, right? And that clown kid has 'em. It'll take us right to him and we can stomp that freak again like we did before!"

"Don't the Heart pillars lead to the places where the Hearts have been hidden for thousands of years?" Peach suddenly piped up. "Wouldn't it just... take us to the same place? The Cragnons' town?"

"You're right, but we might not have any other choice," Timpani said. "We don't know where he went or where he put the Hearts. Nastasia says he might not even be able to touch them, so they could really be _anywhere_. Why did he take them, anyway...?"

• • •

"And like a bumblebee who's faced a near-death encounter with a shoe, I return to my Hive!"

Dimentio, a Skellobit of the "highest rank" as he calls himself, had just arrived in his new, literal hellscape of a home. The endless expanse of the cave was lined with frost and icicles, and dotted with poorly-constructed buildings. The local "residents" affectionately referred to this place as The Hive, as they each have designated roles around the place to create some sense of stability. Of course, there were plenty of disobedient Bits who didn't feel the need to do their job, especially considering there was no longer an intimidating six-winged motivation to do so. With this reduced system of order, Dimentio had asserted himself as their leader of sorts, reminding his faithful servants to keep working lest their prison becomes uninhabitable chaos.

"Oh, great, y' come back to order us around again, fucko?" One particularly irritable Skellobit was none too thrilled with Dimentio's return, partially out of jealousy that he's able to leave the Hive despite Bonechill's escape route being thoroughly sealed.

Dimentio was not disconcerted. "Only if there's somebody skimping out on their work, of course! _Somebody_ has to spin the sign toward the 6-16 convenience store!"

"...No, they really don't-" said the spiked Skellobit, as Dimentio drifted off to arrogantly inform the populace of his Pure Heart heist.

"Attention, my delightful peers!" he shouted from the top of a nearby, shoddy building. "My plan to hide the Hearts I told you all about was a rousing success! I managed to swipe all but one, but no worries! I've-"

"God, could you shut your trap already?!" a blue Bit interrupted. "Nobody asked for a 3-hour lecture on how your day went." A couple other Bits muttered in agreement, and others simply left the area before they were caught not working.

"But folks, you don't understand what this news means for you! Once those so-called 'heroes' are busy finding their glorified engagement rings, I can release you poor souls from this- oh, gracious!"

A Skellobait was thrown in his direction, which sent a cloud of its frost breath at the jester. He kicked it off the building before he inhaled any of the frigid air.

"Now, you all are quite the hostile type! I offer you liberation and you thank me with this sort of behavior?"

No one cared enough to dignify him with a response. _I highly prefer Bleck's praise of my achievements over this careless disrespect,_ Dimentio thought. Despite this, his unwavering determination and confidence—or rather, stubbornness and narcissism—gave him just the idea that would keep the undead prisoners under his control.

Minutes later, the skeletal prisoners were alarmed to smell smoke nearby.

• • •

Mario, Luigi, and Nastasia were the ones to escort the sky-blue plot token to its previous home. Nastasia in particular seemed very anxious to do so. They held up the Heart to its pedestal, eagerly waiting for it to assist them in either retrieving the other Hearts, finding Dimentio, or both. As the spinning gears and pulsating energy dissipated, filling the gap in the pillar, the three turned expectantly to the now onyx-black tower. To their confusion, although its assigned cyan door did appear, it took the place of where the red door used to be.

"That's not... Wait, this is a good thing, right? That means it'll put us somewhere different, right?" Luigi wondered aloud. "Or at least, I hope so..."

Without skipping a beat, Mario darted off with Luigi yelling after him. Nastasia was in no hurry to leave just yet.

Peach was already raring to go when the two brothers reached the tower's elevator. Bowser, despite this, insisted that she stays in the town until he's sure she's fully healed.

"Wait, really? That's quite unexpected coming from you. But... it is very sweet of you to worry about me."

"Hey! Thought I made it pretty clear that cute words like 'sweet' and 'nice' and- UGH, 'worrying', are off-limits when describing me! Is it wrong to not want my delicate wife to get herself killed looking for some useless, spinny hearts?"

"They're _not_ useless! We need them, to... er, well, we need to make sure Dimentio isn't using them for anything!"

"Like what? What's he gonna do, stop us with the power of love? _Terrifying_."

Timpani, being more knowledgeable about the subject, made her way into the argument. "The Light Prognosticus doesn't outright say it, but the Hearts may have much more power than just stopping the Chaos Heart. Of course, we're not sure at all what that power could be, but it could very well be dangerous in the wrong hands... And, if you all don't mind too much, I thought I would come with you on your quest..."

Blumiere was clinging uncomfortably to Timpani's arm, and held even tighter after she asked to come with them. "Ow- what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry. I don't think I can let you leave."

"Excuse me? I survived the trip with Mario as a Pixl, what makes you think I won't be fine now?"

"It's because... You know..." His voice dropped as to not be heard by the others. "...The baby."

"That isn't important now. If there's a chance I can help stop whatever awful thing is going to happen, I'll do it, no matter what might happen to me. We can try again when we're ready. Besides, you have no control over what I can and cannot do."

"Please, my dear-"

"No! I've made up my mind, and you can't tell me otherwise. If you're so concerned, then come along with us. I'm sure they won't mind, right?"

Mario yawned.

Blumiere finally released his grip on his wife's arm. "So... Will you help us, then?"

"...I'll stay behind. Go, if you must."

Timpani's head went hot. "So, that... settles it, I suppose. Is everyone ready?"

"Yep! Let's-a-go!" Luigi said, hitting the elevator button. Mario let out a "wahoo!" as he ran in.

As the elevator doors opened, Luigi's mind suddenly flooded with doubts and fears about their journey. _Is this even worth it? I'm not gonna make it! Did he hide any Hearts in a ghost house? Maybe I can just stay behind for that one. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a hero like Mario. That's fine, I could always hide away in the mansion and never leave. Mario will have to live alone, but maybe he'll move in with the Princess? She'd get kidnapped a whole lot less, too. All the Boos in my mansion aren't that big a deal anyway, I can suck 'em up with the Poltergust pretty easy. Or I could try to make friends with them! That way I can have them as bodyguards in case someone breaks into my mansion! Are ghosts that nice, though? Maybe I'll just lock the door-_

Luigi's nonsensical train of thought was stopped along with the elevator. Mario hurriedly opened the bright cyan door, almost excited to see what lies behind it. Timpani followed suit, but Luigi nearly tried to run and never come back. Ultimately, his sense of responsibility kicked in and dragged his feet through the door, closing it behind him. He desperately wished they knew where the Pixls had gone off to, as he could really use Slim's vanishing ability right about now...


End file.
